Srinagar, Dec 18: The ski resort of Gulmarg on Sunday hostel the first major winter sports event of the season as the 8th J&K SnowShoe Championship was conducted by J&K SnowShoe Association under the auspices of SnowShoe Federation of India and in collaboration with the Department of Tourism Kashmir. In the event competition of both male and female sections in senior and junior categories were held.
Over 260 athletes from all over J&K representing various districts and clubs participated in the event. The competition witnessed major participation from Green Valley Educational Institute, Kashmir Harvard Educational Institute, Tyndale Biscoe and Mallinson, and Delhi Public School Budgam in junior categories.
The event was flagged off by President J&K SnowShoe Association Tariq Ahmad Zargar and Principal DPS Budgam.
Vice President World SnowShoe Federation (WSSF) Mir Muddasir was the chief guest and distributed prizes among the winners. He hailed the event as one of the best to have been held in Gulmarg with such mass participation.
“To begin this season with such a big event is great for winter sports. I wasn’t expecting so much crowd of athletes but it is good to see SnowShoe getting popular in J&K and India,” Muddasir said.
Muddasir said that the tourism department plays an important role in the development of SnowShoe sports in J&K.
“SnowShoe is an activity that doesn’t require any special infrastructure and facility. It can be held all over J&K and only need a few inches of snow. Tourism has been supporting it since the beginning and we are hopeful they will continue that,” he added.
In the senior men category, Adil Fayaz of Srinagar emerged as the winner while Adil Ahmed of Tangmarg bagged second place. Abrar Ahmed of Budgam bagged third place. In the senior women category, National gold medallist, Sara of Srinagar cruised to victory while Toiba Yousuf of Budgam bagged second place. Rutba Altaf of Budgam bagged third place.
In the junior boys’ category, Faizan Rafique of Budgam bagged first place while Shahnawaz of Srinagar bagged second. Umar Bashir of Tangmarg finished third.
In the junior girls’ category, Shaista Mehraj of Budgam, Madeeha of Srinagar, and Arbeena of Budgam bagged the first three positions respectively.
